In daily
life, we experience on the order of 1 J/1022 atoms or ~ 10-4
eV. 300 K (room temperature) corresponds to 25 meV, which is far infrared,
where rotation of molecules occurs. Vibration occurs at near IR. Visible light
is 1.9-3.4 eV. 100 keV-1 MeV affects the nucleus of an atom. 100 MeV-1 GeV is
where neutrons and protons are affected. Quarks and gluons are on the order of
1 GeV – 1 TeV.

May 30:
Waves and Lasers:

Dr. Weaver
explained how lasers work.

Week 2:

June 3:
How Molecules Work

We discussed
classical and quantum mechanical theories on rotators and harmonic oscillators
and how these theories can be used to describe the behavior of molecules.

Dr. Weaver
described how the theory of the atom came about and how one could reasonably
argue against it. He explained how to calculate the detected yield of scattered
projectiles through a medium and how atoms describe this behavior.

June 12: Our lecture was
cancelled today as a tornado hit Manhattan last night and caused serious damage
to Cardwell Hall.

Week 4:

June 17:
The Hydrogen Atom

Today, Dr.
Weaver explained the physical significance of partial differential equations by
using the forced oscillations of a metal plate at different frequencies and
locating the nodes. We did the same experiment in my Boundary Value Problems
class this spring.

June 19:
Hydrogen Part 2

This morning
Dr. Weaver discussed energy quantization and orbitals.

Week 5:

June 24:
Polarization of Light and Neutrino Mixing Phase Factors

Today, Dr.
Weaver began discussing elliptical polarization of light and half-way through
the lecture, Cardwell Hall was evacuated due to possible asbestos
contamination.

June 27:
No Lecture

We still had
not been allowed back into Cardwell Thursday morning, so there was no lecture
today.

Week 6:

June 31:
Relative Phases and Neutrino Mixing

Dr. Weaver
picked up today where he left off last week before the asbestos evacuation. Dr.
Weaver went through both classical and quantum theories on waves.

July 3:
Forces Between Molecules

Today, Dr.
Weaver spoke about the Van der Waals force and how the direction of the spin of
electrons in atoms can affect how bonds are created.

Week 7:

July 8,
2008: Graduate School

Today, Dr.
Weaver gave us advice on applying to and selecting a graduate school. He talked
about the GRE and how we should approach our first year. He said we should go
to all the seminars and colloquia to see what there is to choose from, then ask
some of the older grad students about the professors and the projects before we
decide, but we shouldn’t try to do too many things; we need to find a focus.

July 10,
2008: Holography

Today, Dr. Weaver explained how
holograms are made. He went through a lot of mathematics that I did not
understand. He said there are basically 4 practical concerns associated with
creating a hologram:

Dr. Weaver taught us the principle of
equivalence—gravitation is canceled by jumping off of something, thereby
creating weightlessness.He explained
that the principle of equivalence is local, that is the laboratory cannot be
too large, nor can the experiment be run too long. He talked about inertial
mass and tidal acceleration. He also went through the twin paradox and talked
about gravitational lensing. The universe is composed of the following:

72% -Dark Energy (which we don’t know about)

23%-Dark Matter (which we don’t know about)

3%-Extraordinary
Matter (which we don’t know about)

2%-Ordinary
Matter (which we know about)

July 17, 2008: Bell’s
Inequalities

Dr. Weaver talked about how
adding an apparatus and or an observer affects a system. He discussed how
Feynman said quantum mechanics deals with amplitudes for initial to final
states, and Bohr said different experimental arrangements are part of specific
quantum mechanical processes. He discussed the Einstein-Pedolsky-Rosen paradox,
which says that quantum mechanics is incomplete.

Week 9:

July 22, 2008: No lecture

July 24, 2008: Nuclear
Reactor Tour

We went on a tour of the
nuclear reactor and the nuclear engineering labs. I thought it was very
interesting. I especially liked the crystal growth lab.